In den Augen Gottes
An Alternative History Affair
By TekcoR
Chapter 3
Guidelines to Prosperity
An Alternative History Affair
By TekcoR
Chapter 3
Guidelines to Prosperity
The year of 1837 would prove to be rather uneventful compared to the previous year; which saw a rapid increase in Prussian military might. The previous year showed that Prussia, though industrious compared to smaller nations, was not on an equal footing with countries like United Kingdom, France, the United States of America, the Netherlands or even Belgium. Because of its less industrious status, Prussia lacked certain resources capable of sustaining its military needs. A terrific example of this was the construction of the series of forts in Kaiserslautern; which were called in to order in January the previous year, but construction did not begin until late 1836 due to a lack of explosives and artillery, among other man-made material. Instead of focusing on increasing military might, the Crown Prince Frederick Wilhelm IV, in the name of his father the king, decreed that a focus would be on military needs: explosives, artillery, small arms, steel and foodstuffs.
Since the military reforms following Prussia’s defeat in 1806, education had been a close second in reviving the nation. Although a relatively conservative state compared to other Great Powers, barring the Ottoman Empire and Russia, Prussia’s education system was rather liberal and provided to all able bodied individuals. Because of these reforms following the defeat at the hands of Napoleon in 1806, Prussia’s population was quite literate compared to other nations, and provided great benefit to the civil administration and the officers who were allowed to act and think freely. One great proponent of the education system was Adolph Diesterweg who laid down principles published April 19th, 1837 about teaching children to make them more conscious, thinking and responsible citizens of the state.
Prussia’s educational system would provide tremendous benefits when on August 1st, researched announced the discovery of aerial bacteria and the antiseptic principle. These essential discoveries would allow for further population growth and less attrition suffered during campaigns in any future conflict. While the military was not to be the primary focus of the year of 1837, there was room within the budget and national stockpile of goods to begin the recruitment of an additional 24,000 troops in 5 infantry, 1 artillery and 1 engineer regiment. In order to help replenish the treasury from its expenditure a great discovery was made. Outside of Konigsberg, on Christmas of all days, precious metals were discovered!
Though the year of 1837 was rather uneventful, 1838 was a tad bit more exciting. Prussia’s standing within the list of the world’s great powers rose from 6th to 4th. In the previous yearly standings of the great powers, it was the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Austria, the United States of America and then Prussia, followed by Spain and the Ottomans. Now, the standings read United Kingdom, France, Austria, Prussia, the United States of America, Russia, Spain and the Ottomans. This was great reinforcement that under the Crown Prince’s direction that Prussia was beginning to move further forward; though the pace could not be accelerated until he had become King, which was just any day away from now.
On the military front, Prussia made several developments and met one setback. On May 20th, the military establishment had further developed military plans that would further organize the army, provide better discipline, decrease overuse of supplies and potentially increase the mobilization size. The blow to the establishment would come on the 11th of July when Austria formally announced that it was canceling its military alliance with Prussia. Rumors of war were circulated throughout the establishment, would Austria really wage war? What were her goals besides possibly re-establishing control over Silesia that had been lost nearly a century before? The days would turn to weeks, and weeks into months and Austria’s decision to dissolve the alliance produced no other results. The year of 1838 would end on a positive note for the fourth greatest power in the world, Sweden a mid-major regional player within the Baltic agreed to an alliance.